No one would blame Metallica if, some 31 years after Kill ‘Em All, they decided to hang up their lightning bolts and stop recording new music. Is anyone really, truly begging for a follow-up to Death Magnetic? Well, the guys in Metallica are, if only to forget that Death Magnetic happened, because they’re working on a new album. Our first listen comes in the form of a “garage demo” of the “The Lords of Summer.”

For over eight-minutes, Metallica sounds refreshingly energized — it’s closer to the hard-chugging heaviness of …And Justice for All than St. Anger, even if James Hetfield sounds like a James Hetfield impersonator.

I think a lot of people who aren’t Metallica followers get Death Magnetic and St. Anger mixed up. All they know is that everybody hated a Metallica album from the 2000s and they mistakenly think it was their most recent album.

I think a lot of people who aren’t Metallica followers get Death Magnetic and St. Anger mixed up. All they know is that everybody hated a Metallica album from the 2000s and they mistakenly think it was their most recent album.